Don't ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.~Howard Thurman

I get off track when I meander down roads that I'm "supposed" to like--especially where writing is concerned. What I like to read, what I observe, what I listen to, what movies I watch all come into play as well. This doesn't mean that I don't seek out recommendations from others about what to read or watch or listen to. It does mean that I don't try to talk myself out of liking something or noticing something that brings me joy or intrigue. When I begin thinking, "I really should like that book. The author won the prestigious award. Or my good friend really loves that book genre. Should I be reading more of that? And the classics. I should probably be reading the ones I never got around to. Or, that movie won the Academy award, but I just couldn't get into it." Time and again, what I find is that validating my own perceptions makes me a better writer.

I have a practice of placing sticky tabs in books to highlight words or quotes or scenes that I like. I recently read a memoir, and the author mentioned that she had received a book as a gift. She did not go into detail regarding how she liked the book, but it sounded interesting so I tabbed the title: Several Short Sentences About Writing by Verlyn Klinkenborg. I checked the book out of the library, and after reading the first half of the book, I had so many tabs, I decided that I'd like to have my own copy. Here are a few excerpts that I thought might be helpful to you as you follow your own creative pursuits--not only writing, but any artistic endeavor. 

But everything you notice is important. Let me say that a different way: If you notice something, it’s because it’s important. But what you notice depends on what you allow yourself to notice, and that depends on what you feel authorized, permitted to notice in a world where we’re trained to disregard our perceptions.

Who’s going to give you the authority to feel that what you notice is important? It will have to be you. The authority you feel has a great deal to do with how you write, and what you write, with your ability to pay attention to the shape and meaning of your own thoughts and the value of your own perceptions.

Being a writer is an act of perpetual self-authorization. No matter who you are. Only you can authorize yourself. You do that by writing well, by constant discovery. No one else can authorize you. No one. This doesn’t happen overnight. It’s as gradual as the improvement in your writing.

Start by learning to recognize what interests you. Most people have been taught that what they notice doesn’t matter, so they never learn how to notice, not even what interests them. Or they assume that the world has been completely pre-noticed, already sifted and sorted and categorized by everyone else, by people with real authority. And so they write about pre-authorized subjects in pre-authorized language. 

BLESSING FOR WHAT YOU NOTICE

Sometimes we're talked out of things. Sometimes it's the most well-meaning people who can sound so persuasive. Heap on the guilt. Cause second-guessing.

"You mean you really think you can make money with your art? Shouldn't you try something safer? I mean, you're so good at accounting. Aren't numbers more your thing?"

"You know, I used to like that, but it's not trending. May not be so good for business. You may want to re-think that."

"You mean you've never read that book? Never heard of that author? Come on. Everyone's read that. Maybe you could try to write more like her."

And on it goes.

But, down deep, you know what you like. You know you like the sound of that lyrical prose. You know you'd like to write like that. You get into the story and time stops. It's pure enjoyment. You keep going that direction. You feel alive, no matter what others say or what others are reading.

God creates so many kinds of people. He delights in giving them delights. Desires of the heart.

May you keep finding freedom in noticing what you notice. Basking in the excitement of your discoveries.

May you be brave enough to authorize yourself. The world needs you.

AMEN